What's 'His' Secret?
by Pugslover
Summary: Kouyuu has always been mistaken for a guy, but that's just how her life went. If she hadn't been when Reishin adopted her, she would've been left to starve in the streets. So what is she to do when her secret is discovered by none other than Ran Shuuei- the man of the Ran clan who has every woman in the Red Light district swooning for him! Rated T so no problems are caused.
1. Chapter 1

Please enjoy this new fanfiction of mine! It's my first for Saiunkoku Monogatari, so I hope I depict the characters well! Please enjoy the first chapter!

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN Saiunkoku Monogatari.**

Chapter 1: Prologue

Li Kouyuu. I was given this name by Kou Reishin when he picked me up off the streets nine years ago. Currently, I'm studying to become an official in the Imperial Court. I've been studying for three years already, mostly due to my adoptive fathers' influence. Right now, I'm living the life I never could have even _dreamed_ of living back then. He saw me, dressed in dirty rags, trying to sell things I had picked up off the street or from gardens of the more fortunate.

When he took me in and named me, I was extremely happy.

When he let me clean myself in a bath, I was happy.

When he gave me new, clean clothes to wear, I was happy.

When I saw that I was wearing boy's clothes, I was confused.

Now, why would a young 'man' like myself be confused as to why I was given male clothing? Because the clothing itself was of high quality and there were no rips or tears in the fabric? No.

It is because I am female. That's right. I'm a girl. Oh, something else you should know- females aren't allowed to take the National exams. Females aren't allowed to be officials of the Imperial Court. But does anyone know? No. Not even my adoptive father, you ask? No.

Apparently his older brother took in a young man and adopted him so he wanted to see what it was like. He never really spent time with me, though he always made sure I was never hungry, never clothed in rags and that I was never uneducated. He gave me food for my stomach, a home to keep me safe and warm, clothes on my back and an education.

I liked and still like learning. Becoming an official would help me learn even more, hence the reason why I'm currently studying for the National exams. I'm already sixteen and I'm confident in my ability to pass the exam and take the Jougen title.

However, I am worried about one thing in particular. Even though my attitude makes others view me as a man, that doesn't mean that I am one. As such, since I am a woman- a 16 year old at that- I have already started going through puberty. In my earlier studies, I was taught about how the male and female bodies work. So I know that while I end up bleeding at least once a month, the blood loss isn't enough to kill me. The stench of it however is enough to make me feel sick. I end up getting terrible back pain as well as stomach cramps.

Also, while I have had an education of the human body to an extent, something that continues to confuse me to no end is the size of my breasts. I have been taken with my adoptive father, on occasion, to the red light district where an under-ground boss is said to reside. On our occasional…outings…I have come to realize that no matter what age you are, the size of your breasts aren't really affected. For example, you could be forty and still only have breasts the size of a small child's fist. Others are younger than me by a couple of years and their breasts are about as large as a type of fruit I've heard of that is grown elsewhere called a grape fruit. It's rather large.

Anyways, the thing is, just as a forty year old woman can barely have breasts, so can a healthy, young teenager. Also, just as a young teenager can have huge breasts, so can an older woman.

As people always have mistaken me for a male and I have chosen to dress as one since it is much safer than dressing as a woman, having breasts my size can only hinder my ability to appear as male. No, my breasts aren't small so my clothes don't really do a good job of hiding them. No, they aren't as big as grape fruits. I would say that they are as big as watermelons- except they're rounder than watermelons and softer too. Still, the largeness as well as the heaviness of them always ends up hurting my back.

I honestly have no clue what happened. One day when I was thirteen, I went about my normal routine- waking up, getting cleaned, getting dressed, getting lost, eating lunch, getting lost, studying for the National exam, getting lost, eating supper, getting lost, getting washed and then going to bed after some more studying. The next morning, I felt a heavy weight on my chest area. I couldn't help but wonder if a cat had somehow snuck into the Kou residence and decided to sleep on my chest since it was flat enough. I mean, my breasts had already started to grow but they were still small enough to be hidden by my clothes.

When my mind finally started waking up and I sat up in bed, the weight on my chest shifted to weigh my back and shoulders down a bit. It also bounced a bit. Not knowing what the cause was, I finally opened my eyes and looked down, only to see that my night shirt was rather stretched and my breasts were now the size of oranges. My clothes could still hide them so I didn't really pay them any mind. Over the next couple of months, my breasts constantly grew in size.

Then one day, I woke up with my current breast size. I now had a pair of watermelons for my breasts. If I were a man and I saw a woman in the red light district with this set of knockers, I would probably have wanted to stay the night with her, enjoying the softness and size of them. However, I am a woman. Yet everyone knows me as a man.

As if I could suddenly say, "Reishin-sama, I, your adopted son, Li Kouyuu, am actually a female. As I have been going through puberty, my breasts have decided to become as big as the biggest watermelons and my waist has become oh so thin while my hips are the perfect size to bear children. Please continue to treat me as you have been."

So here I am at my current predicament. While my breasts have been this large for at least two years now, I feel as though they are getting slightly bigger day by day. I'm not fat though. Running around while I'm lost and eating a healthy diet has helped to make sure of that. As my breasts are this large, I need to constantly wrap them, even while I sleep, so that nobody takes me by surprise and so that I don't take anybody else by surprise. Wrapping my breasts while they are this large _and_ I'm on my period makes for quite the painful process.

I can't stand it. I'm doing my best to study for the exams! Not trying to wrestle with myself!

_FINALLY._

Now that my breasts are wrapped, I can put my normal clothes on. Now to get back to studying…

…The Next Day…

"Kouyuu-sama! It is time to depart for the Imperial Palace to take the National Exams!" a servant called out to me.

"I'm almost ready!" I called back to her.

Oh, another thing that you should know. My voice is a bit raspy and a tad deeper than a normal woman's due to two things- One: I got a cold before Reishin-sama adopted me and that left me with permanent damage to my throat since I couldn't buy medicine for myself. Two: While going through puberty, my voice has become a bit deeper. Add those two things together and you have a slightly higher pitched male voice.

Checking my things to make sure that I'm prepared- extra cloth for my period as well as extra bindings if something happens to my current ones for my breasts, my clothes and my study books- I finish putting my short pony tail into the clothed bun. One of the things I'm grateful for about my clothes is that they cover my neck to an extent. This makes it so that my lack of an Adam's apple isn't so obvious.

Grabbing my bag, I take one last quick look around the room, satisfied that nothing's out of place and that I'm _finally_ going to be taking the National Exams! Opening my door, I leave my room and follow the servant. Upon reaching the entrance of the residence, I saw an escort from the palace.

Reishin-sama must have asked for one to help guide me. Giving the man a small smile to show I appreciated what he was doing, he only returned it with a sneer. Ah. That's right. Not only will I end up being the first woman to take the exams- disguised as a male-, I'm also the youngest person in history to take the exams. Of course older people aren't going to be happy that I'm taking the exams at such a young age…

It's not my fault they waited till they were older to take the exams. I just happened to have a goal I wanted to reach and I started working towards that goal at a young age.

My goal is to work under Reishin-sama in the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Ah, but now is not the time to daydream! Continuing the somewhat short walk to the Imperial Palace in silence, I took in my surroundings, trying my best to remember the way. I can at least _try_ to not get lost.

Upon reaching the hall where the tests will begin, the escort walks away without so much as a word or glance back at me. I'm telling you right now, being on my period tends to make me braver than I normally am. People tend to steer clear of me during this time. Looking over my clothes one last time to make sure nothing is out of place, I catch a whiff of the perfume that I always use to cover up the scent that my period leaves on me. While it's soothing, I've been told by the servants that it's also manly, like it gives off a musky scent.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, I walk towards the table in the center, looking for my name on the papers laid there. Scanning through one page after another, I find my name.

So I'll be sleeping in dormitory room 68 with some other guy named Ran Shuuei. Hm? That's strange…I thought that three people were assigned to a room normally. Well, I guess the number of people just didn't fit. Oh well. That's one less guy I'll have to deal with.

Little did I know that meeting him would be the end and start of everything.

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O.O As you might have guessed, I've started watching Saiunkoku Monogatari…Well, I had started watching it and had gotten through a lot of it, but the website I had been using- a couple years ago, might I add- ended up not having the rest of it…and the episodes were kinda choppy…So, now that I am once more watching this enchanting series, I have come up with this new fanfiction idea! MUWAHAHAHA! All my other fanfictions have not been forgotten. They will probably not be updated as soon as you would like them to be, so sorry about that. -.- Well, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter! **Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks to all who have read/reviewed/favorited/followed this fanfiction of mine~! I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter enough to come and check out the second chapter! Please enjoy it!

Ah, one last thing- about their ages and whatnot, the only age that I know for a fact would be Kouyuu's since he was 16 when he took the exams. I don't know how old Shuuei is, so I'm just putting down…what I want to put down. :3

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN Saiunkoku Monogatari.**

Chapter 2: Meeting Ran Shuuei

Deciding that it would be in my best interests to find my dorm room and put my bag in the room, I looked around to see if there were any people that would help me.

Of course not.

Why would anyone want to be of any help to a mere teenager such as myself?

Huffing a bit, I readjusted the strap of my bag into a more comfortable position over my left shoulder and started walking in a random direction. Hey, for someone like me who has no sense of direction whatsoever, most of the time just randomly walking will help me reach my destination. This obviously went through a trial and error period where I found this out, but that story can be saved for a different time. Focusing my sights straight ahead, I walked over to a set of stairs. Seeing something tied around the banister, I looked at it for minute before I could feel a triumphant smile gracing my lips.

Though to other people it most likely looked like a smirk. Squaring my shoulders, I continued on up the stairs, ignoring the death glares that were close to boring holes in my back. Happy that I couldn't feel the bindings on my chest slip, I continued gracefully walking on up the stairs. When I finally made it to the upper floor, I looked at another slip of paper that had been tied to the top of the banister before making my way down the halls.

Really. Reishin-sama knows how to hide directional notes for me anywhere, though he prefers that I ask for directions. Well, he had to go through the same thing as me at the National Exams, although he was a bit older than I am. He must have known that nobody would even try to help me.

Looking at the doors and the numbers painted on them, I stopped in front of a door with the number 68 on it. Breathing a sigh of relief, I opened the unlocked door and stepped into the most secluded room the dormitory could provide. It must have been the biggest as well since I could see a little bath included in it.

While I had never actually told anyone about my gender, undoubtedly Reishin-sama had already noticed some things. Shaking my head a bit, I closed the door and made my way over to the third bed- the one farthest from the door and closest to seclusion. Not knowing what to expect from the roommate I had yet to meet, I hid my bag under my bed as best as I could, only taking out some books to study from.

As I was about to sit down in a chair that was near my bed, I heard a clicking sound. Turning towards the door, I watched as a man with a long, black pony tail walked in, wearing clothes that befit one of the seven main clans.

So that's Ran Shuuei…Hm? He looks familiar…where have I seen him before? Ah, it doesn't matter.

Taking another look at him, while trying to not outright stare, I saw that he could only be a few years older than me at most. He has a very handsome face so I wouldn't be surprised if he had many marriage offers. Ah. I stared too long. _Sigh_

I _really_ don't want to talk with anyone. While I do tend to be braver during my period, I am also more prone to showing all my emotions than hiding them and I'd rather not be known as the Grouchy Examinee on my first day…or the Examinee Murderer. All these men think that they're all that and they can look down on others because of their wealth. Heh, wealth won't give them brains though.

Hearing the man across from me clear his throat I refocused my attention on him. Crap, that's right- he caught me staring!

"Yes?" I ask in a somewhat grumpy tone.

Of all things that he could do that would end up annoying me further, he just had to chuckle.

"What?" I ask in a slightly sharper tone.

Getting his chuckles under control, he clears his throat again before looking at me and answering in a smooth voice, "I was simply wondering what it is that you were staring at."

Sighing once again, I answer, "I was staring at you to see what my roommate is like. I honestly wasn't expecting someone as young as myself to also be here."

"Oh, really? How old are you, if I may ask?"

"16," came my curt reply.

"Ah, I'm 18, so we aren't that far apart in age."

Now that was a little surprising. True, we aren't really that far apart age-wise. But I have a feeling that everything about us will end up being complete opposites.

First off, I doubt he was picked up off the streets.

Second off, he is definitely a man.

Third, he seems to be a womanizer.

Fourth, I honestly doubt that he has as bad a sense of direction as me.

Fifth, he seems to be an easy-going type of person.

Sixth, he seems to also be aiming for 'field' work as opposed to staying indoors and taking care of dusty books.

Well, those are the only immediate differences that I could find between the two of us at first glance. Undoubtedly more will show themselves as time goes on.

Suddenly a face appeared in front of my own.

"GYAAH!" I screamed.

"You seem to have gotten out of your daze, Mr…"

"Ahem, Li…Li Kouyuu, Ran-san."

"Hahahaha! Please don't call me by such a boring name as that! You may call me Shuuei, or, if you prefer honorifics, Shuuei-san. When we pass the National Exams though, just call me Shuuei. It's rather boring to be surrounded by old farts, so I'd rather someone only a couple years younger than me not address me like I'm that old."

"Then…Shuuei-san."

"Hmmm, since you _are_ younger than me, I'll just call you Kouyuu!"

"Oi!"

"If you want honorifics, don't you think you should first pass the exams?"

Grumbling to myself a bit, I saw that he looked like he wanted to ask a question. Groaning to myself and thinking I'd never get any peace and quiet with him, I grunted. Taking my grunt of suffering as a signal to ask his question, he spoke up.

"How did you know my name? Is it possible…that you have feelings for me?" he asked in a teasing manner.

Even though I'm a woman, I need to keep up my masculine look. Putting on my best disgusted face, I shouted at him, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! WHERE DID THAT COME OUT OF?!"

Hearing him laugh, I simply kept my grouch look intact.

"I'm obviously kidding. I will never go after you, I promise."

"That's what you're saying to try and get my guard down isn't it?" I asked in mock skepticism.

"No, it's because it's true. I only go after women, and beautiful women at that. Even if you were a woman, I probably wouldn't go after you seeing as you barely have a chest and your hair is messy. The women I go after are always so gentle and soft-," I cut him off before my control slipped and I accidentally murdered him.

"I don't care for your preferences. Just stay away from me, and everything will be fine, Shuuei-san."

Hearing him chuckle again, I rolled my eyes before going to my little desk to study. Opening up my most used book, I blocked him out, focusing solely on advancing towards a bright future. He must have finally noticed that I was blatantly ignoring him because after about five or so minutes, he finally shut up and ceased bothering me.

A few hours must have passed before I felt a hand on my shoulder, making me jump. What can I say? When I'm focused on something, I rarely notice anything around me. Correction- I _never_ notice anything around me.

Feeling my heart skip a beat, I looked in the direction the hand had most likely come from. Looking up the arm and towards the face, I felt myself involuntarily cringe. Ah, that's right. I need to act disgusted with him. At least my body can keep up without my brain for a little bit.

Frowning a bit, I ask, "What is it now?"

"Dinner unless you wish to fast until the morning."

Growling a bit under my breath, my stomach decided to grumble then. LOUDLY. Blushing a bit at the embarrassment I was feeling and the sure feeling that I had that I'd be teased for it, my blush faded when he only gently smiled at me.

Taking my wrist, he pulled me up to my feet, effectively making me stumble from the unexpected action. Putting my other hand in front of myself to make sure he wouldn't feel even a little softness under my clothes, I steadied myself before shooting him a glare. It's hard to glare when one is hungry.

Outright laughing this time, he took my other wrist before making his way to the door with me stumbling behind him. Finally getting steadied, again, I yanked my wrist from his hold and glared at him, silently telling him that he'd feel pain the next time he dared touch me.

Taking the hint, he simply walked in front of me. Feeling a tad grateful that I wouldn't have to go and get lost on my way to the cafeteria and starve in the process, I managed to mumble out a quiet 'Thanks' before we continued on our way as if nothing had happened.

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:D I updated it the next day! Whoooo! Way to go me! Though this will not always happen, I'm afraid. **Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks to all who have read/reviewed/favorited/followed this fanfiction of mine! Please continue to enjoy it!

Sorry for the wait!

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN Saiunkoku Monogatari.**

Chapter 3: The Cafeteria Brings Trouble

We made it just in time before other examinees made it into the Royal Cafeteria…if that's what they call it. Not wanting to be seen with another young examinee, I stayed behind a little bit so that there were now twelve people in front of me and in back of Shuuei-san.

_Pffft!_

Uh-oh. I need to make sure that I don't goof off here no matter what. I'll bring shame to Reishin-sama if I do. Well, you can't really blame me…Shuuei-san looks absolutely ridiculous! I guess he finally figured out that I'm no longer walking beside him. For once, I am happy that I'm so short! …Actually, I'm not short. I'm average height for a girl my age. Hmph. Nothing wrong with my height at all-

"Oi, are you going to eat any time soon, Kouyuu?"

"WAAARGH!"

…Eh? Did I seriously just scream now? Darn you, Ran Shuuei!

"AHAHAHAHAA! You should've seen your face! Hahahahaha!"

"Shuuei-san…do you mind having one or more of your limbs sliced off?"

"Eh?"

"Because if you do, sorry, but you'll have to learn HOW TO USE A SWORD WITH ONLY ONE HAND!" I shouted as I lunged at him, politeness and social looks forgotten.

I can't believe it…what an insufferable man he is!

So we ended up spending our little 'lunch break' running around the open courtyard right outside the cafeteria. Reishin-sama isn't going to let this slide…

Finally, my period and big breasts- even while wrapped, they _still_ weigh me down- stopped me. Maaaaaan…I can't believe that I let that guy get to me.

Hunched over with my hands on my knees, sweating a bit and panting a lot, I looked up as I saw a hand come into my lowered vision. Ugh. It's the reason I'm out of breath right now, holding his hand out to me- most likely in a fake apologetic gesture. As if I'll fall for it!

"What…do…you want?" I ask in between gasps for air.

"Oh, nothing really, Kou~yuu~."

I can practically feel a vain popping on my face. Who does he think he is?! …Besides the son of a well-known family…

_Sigh_

Whatever.

"Just thought I'd help an out of breath bookworm is all," he finished.

…He has a death wish, doesn't he?

"Hah? Who's out of breath?! Who's a bookworm?!"

"You are, Kouyuu."

_Snap_

Oh dear…my sanity is snapping…ha…hahahaha…HAHAHAHAA! I DON'T CARE!

But before I can even make a scathing remark, an older examinee joins us in the open courtyard. He must be in his forties, _at least_ in his forties.

"My, my- I didn't know that this became a playground for little children."

Snickers could be heard in the background as I felt my face go red. Whether I'm red from embarrassment, anger or something else, I don't really know. What I do know is that-

I WANT TO MAKE THIS OLD MAN GROVEL AT MY FEET!

Well, it is mainly my fault since I was spacing out in the first place. I'm also the one who started chasing another examinee…how stupid could I be?!

Forcing my now-angry blush to step back and let my indifferent face appear, I felt a sudden wave of boldness overcome me. As if I'll let this snobby, old rich man to make a fool of me!

"Oh, really? I thought that it was starting to turn into a lovely Senior Center, don't you, old sir?" I faked politeness.

Hah! I feel victorious already. As if I'll let you talk down to me! Heck, I'm taller than you and I'm not even done growing yet!

Seeing that old man's face redden, I did my best to put on a blank look. Looking over to see Shuuei-san trying to hold his giggles back, I almost let a laugh of my own slip past my lips. Walking over to him, I elbowed him lightly in his side. I had to practically use all my strength to make sure that I didn't burst out laughing. I could feel the tears gathering in my eyes. Shuuei-san seemed to notice and did his best to straighten his face as well, though he ended up with an awkward face instead.

Coughing into my tight fist a little, I decided to start a distracting conversation.

"Ne, Shuuei-san?"

"Y-yes?"

Rein in your giggles, dang it!

"W-what…ahem…What do you think you would like to eat for dinner, Shuuei-san? Personally, I wouldn't mind a meatbun…"

"I think I'll have the same. Ah, with some tea of course."

"Of course."

With that, we walked away from the silently fuming man. He had it coming though. After spending most of my life with Reishin-sama, you learn a thing or two about comebacks.

Getting our food and eating it in a quiet corner of the dining room, we allowed our smiles to show on our faces, even though it made eating a tad more difficult.

…Back in their shared dorm room…

"Ahhh, that was filling!" I remarked as I fell back onto my bed. The meal was good, but the company was even better.

Funny how I went from hating his guts to finding him to be a good friend. We exchanged small talk, some more pleasantries and some personal information. Mainly it was about why we were taking the National Exams even though we are both young. I told him it was because of my benefactor and he said it was his duty as a son of the Ran clan.

Coming back, he discovered my unfortunate lack of direction. He decided that he would make sure to abuse this impairment of mine. It's not my fault! Everything is too dang big and confusing!

"Oi~! Kouyuu?"

"Huh? What, Shuuei-san?"

"Ah, you can drop the '-san'. It doesn't really feel right, especially coming from you."

"Haha! Okay then, Shuuei. Let's best make sure to pass the National Exams!"

"Of course- I wouldn't have it any other way, Kouyuu."

"Figured…"

We both smiled at each other before going back to doing our own thing. For me, it was more studying, for him…I actually have no clue what the heck he _is_ doing. Is it possible…is he _studying_?!

Nope. He's sleeping.

_Sigh_

No wonder I heard snoring in the background. Oh well, the moon is up pretty high- I should get washed before it turns to morning. This is the perfect opportunity for me! I won't have to worry about him getting suspicious if I take too long in the bath.

Closing my study materials and setting them aside, I went to my bed as quickly as I could without being super noisy- one skill I am most proud of. Getting on my hands and knees as quietly as possible to retrieve my personal bag, I grabbed it as soon as I felt it before getting up and just about running to the bath.

Sliding the door closed and breathing a sigh of relief, I waited for a bit to make sure that Shuuei wouldn't try to jump me. Still hearing the steady snoring, I rushed to take my clothes off. Once I was just in my underwear- or should I say undercloth?- I hurriedly unwrapped my bindings. I couldn't help but sigh once again in relief. Hey, they hurt! Taking my undercloth off as well, I put it in a special bag before putting it in my personal bag. I would wash it later anyways.

Untying my shoulder-length hair and setting all my personal belongings aside, I went to relieve myself. We even have our own little toilet!

Once that was done, I began to heat the water in our little bath. Once I was satisfied with that, I set about cleaning off my body first. Just as I finished washing off the last of the soap from my sore body and was sitting down in the bath, the bathroom door slid open. Splashing because of the speed I sat down with, I quickly turned around after I was sure my breasts were hidden in the soothing water.

Why?

Why did he have to wake up now?!

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Yay! I finally wrote this third chapter~! I'm satisfied with it, so I hope you'll all like it too! :D **Please review!**


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